What do you think about this?

[robgarcia]

Ok, so this are my stats:

3.84 GPA
36 MCAT

EC:

Premed Circle (of my college) member
Ronald Mcnair program participant (an SROP program in my college)
*[SROP= Summer research opportunity program]
Hospital volunteer work
Church community service work

all of this but...

I transfered from a college were I have 7 W's on my transcript. Do I have to show every college I attended or just the one I graduated from? Will this affect my chances at all? What are my chances of getting into a great (not good) medical school?

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[JonBonesJones]

Your EC's look really thin. While schools look for quality over quantity, I'm not convinced you have either. How many summers of research? How many hours/week do you spend doing actual things (i.e. not weekly meeting attendance) for the pre-med club (Note: a lot of people include pre-med club/chem club/bio club as an activity, but if you haven't put any time into it, then it really doesn't count as an activity)? How many hours/years/frequency have you volunteered at the hospital and church? And where have you learned about medicine?

GPAs are calculated from ALL college level course work. Over what period did you receive the W's? All in one semester due to a certain reason or spread out over years? If you have poor grades from that period they need to be calculated into your GPA. If you actually have a 3.8 overall/36 MCAT, I think your W's might be forgiven somewhat.

 

[Global Warming]

Ok, so this are my stats:

3.84 GPA
36 MCAT

EC:

Premed Circle (of my college) member
Ronald Mcnair program participant (an SROP program in my college)
*[SROP= Summer research opportunity program]
Hospital volunteer work
Church community service work

all of this but...

I transfered from a college were I have 7 W's on my transcript. Do I have to show every college I attended or just the one I graduated from? Will this affect my chances at all? What are my chances of getting into a great (not good) medical school?

You must report every college course you have ever taken. The W's definitely don't look good (you already know this), but why did you have 7 W's? Were they spread out or clustered in 1 or 2 consecutive semiesters?

 

[Stratego]

"Great" med schools tend to be research giants. Without substantive research experience, and no wow-level ECs to compensate, your chance at a "Great" school isn't very good despite terrific stats. Strong leadership and community service involvement are more important at this level as well.

 

[J ROD]

I agree with those other posts. The Ws are bad but will not kill you....maybe for the top schools though.

Also, you need to get in some shadowing, and further explain your ECs. On the surface, they dont look enough to be competitive.

Apply to good schools too....

 

[robgarcia]

Ok about the ECs:

In the Premed circle I have to admit I'm just a member.
In the community service at church I've put 208 hours of work 2 years and 2 months(8 hours monthly)
In the Mcnair Research program I've done 1 summer of research and took a lot of seminars and conferences about new research around the world.
In the Hospital part I have about 384 hours of work (4 hours weekly for 2 years) I do it when I get out of college. I get clinical experience sometimes.

About the W's

I was really really stupid. I was in biomedical sciences in that college and got scared and lazy with some classes. I have one W on calculus 1 in a summer(passed in other college with b-). I have a W in biology in my first semester (took it in the other college and passed with A+), I have a W in literature, spanish and history and withdrew in my second semester again from biology. I only had very few credits when I decided to transfer to the other college. I don't remember my other Ws, but yes all of them were in different semesters.

About the GREAT and GOOD schools.

sorry, I don't know what I meant. What I mean is, that every school, as long as it's accredited by the LCME is good, but I want to get the best education I can for what I have done.

Even if I have to stay longer in college I don't care changing my major, so what do you guys think about this situation?

* About changing my major or path I'm interesed in a Ph D program in biomedical sciences(there is also one in biotech, what would you prefer?), or would changing out of sciences be good too? I don't know what jobs can I get with this programs.

I REALLY WANT TO BECOME AN LCME PHYSICIAN. I don't want to end up in caribbean medical schools or another foreign med school(They're not bad (some) but I want an AAMC school.)

 

[Stratego]

Your MCAT score is strong enough to override concerns about your scattered Ws at some schools. DON'T do it again! Your community service looks very good, but you self-admittedly have little clinical experience, so you need to have more patient contact. If you plan to apply next summer, you're already behind in acquiring this, so hop to it and get it going. Let the hopsital volunteer coordinator know this is essential for you and that time is of the essence. Your research is the bare minimum for those who list it. You'll need physician shadowing, some leadership experience, and maybe teaching too, if possible.

 

[Stratego]

Why do you want a PhD? Becoming a physician is within your grasp. If you are thinking MD/PhD programs, then you don't have nearly the needed research credentials to be taken seriously. Don't let your splendid MCAT score expire.

 

[robgarcia]

So you guys think I have a good chance (with some tweaks in my application)? Thanks for the advice, I've always wanted to be a physician and was losing a lot of motivation. You guys really helped THANKS AGAIN!

 

[Stratego]

Happy to help. Make us proud.